


Fall For You

by never_love_a_wild_thing



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Werewolves, Autumn, M/M, Teacher Liam, nurse theo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26912734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/never_love_a_wild_thing/pseuds/never_love_a_wild_thing
Summary: Theo struggles to balance taking care of two younger siblings and having his own life. Romance seems like a long-lost hope, until he meets his youngest sister's kindergarten teacher and *falls* head over heels. Prepare for autumn vibes.
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 9
Kudos: 31





	1. Haunted House

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize in advance if this never gets finished, but I feel like writing for the first time in over a year, and it's October, so maybe someone wants to read it.  
> Enjoy :)

“Theo!” Reese skipped of the bus, her yellow rainboots splashing through puddles painted red and orange in the reflection of the leaves overhead. Theo couldn’t help but smile widely at his youngest sister, feeling some of the exhaustion slip away as his eyes crinkled with premature crows’ feet. He was only twenty-four for god’s sake.

“Hey, Reese!” he bent to catch her up in his arms, her backpack swinging lightly on her back. It was way too big for her – one of the ones the school had given them – but she only used it for her one folder, a change of clothes, her lunch, and a little water bottle. Plus whatever adorable crafts her teacher sent her home with. Theo was a little in love with the way it made her look like a turtle, dwarfing her tiny frame and swinging side to side as she ran and jumped.

“Theo, guess what I made at school today!” she said as he carried her into their apartment.

“What?” he asked in exaggerated anticipation.

“I made a paper pumpkin! And Mr. Dunbar said we can bring in pumpkins next week and we’ll make them into Jack – o – Lanterns!” she told him, taking off her backpack as soon as he set her down to show him her somewhat smushed pumpkin; a paper plate sponge-painted orange with black triangle eyes and a black, toothy smile, and a green stem coming out the top, all made of construction paper. Reese’s name was written along the bottom in black sharpie, letters neat and small and deliberate. On the back, Reese had scrawled her own name, much larger and sloppier, in pencil.

“Wow, Reese!” Theo said, “You’re such a good artist! This looks great!”

“I want to show Tara!” Reese exclaimed, taking her paper pumpkin back and racing off towards her sister’s room.

Theo shook his head and set about unpacking Reese’s backpack. Tara was pretending to be mad at him because she wanted him to take her and her friends to the haunted house instead of her friend’s apparently uncool mom that night, but he hated to leave Reese with a babysitter unless he absolutely had to. Never mind that shelling out almost twenty dollars for both of them to go to the haunted house on top of paying for a babysitter was kind of pushing it. She would get over it when she realized that he wasn’t going to give in.

Sure enough, a bright orange flier was stuck into the folder, jauntily advertising the fall activities that Reese’s class needed parent helpers for. He looked at his work schedule on the fridge. He knew that Reese would want him to come to all of them, but the apple picking field trip was the only one that he could really do. There were one or two right after back to back long shifts that he could make it to, so he signed up for those as well, including pumpkin carving the next week, resigning himself to shelling out for an espresso or two.

Around dinner time, Tara’s fit of sulky teenage angst apparently gave way to hunger and she and Reese joined Theo at the table.

“You didn’t take off your scrubs,” Tara told him through a mouthful of pasta as he spooned some out for himself.

Theo glanced down. “Yeah, well, I basically live in them. I don’t know why I bother having any other clothes,” he told her dryly.

“You can’t wear scrubs to the haunted house tonight, okay?” she insisted, “You have to wear something else.”

“Tara, I’m not taking you. Be happy I’m letting you go at all,” he sighed.

Tara scowled at him.

“Theo?” Reese asked angelically.

“Yeah, Reese?”

“How come you don’t get married?” Her face was pure innocence. Because when it rained it poured.

“I haven’t met the right person,” he explained patiently.

“But why can’t you marry Jordan?” she asked, and Tara snorted. Jordan was their neighbor, a few years older than Tara, who babysat Reese sometimes.

“Well, for one thing, because Jordan is too young and also because when I do get married, I’m not going to marry a girl,” he replied.

He expected Reese to ask why, but instead she nodded and said, “That’s what Mr. Dunbar said too.” She looked at him, “Can you marry Mr. Dunbar?”

Theo tried not to facepalm. For all he knew, Mr. Dunbar was seventy years old and had hair growing out of his ears. “Reese’s Pieces, I’ve never met Mr. Dunbar, remember?”

“ _Oh,_ ” Reese thought about it for a minute, “But he’s nice!”

Tara was grinning on Theo’s other side. “If you take us to the haunted house, I’ll distract Reese _and_ do the dishes,” she offered.

Fuck. Theo was going to be out about fifty dollars. It was worth it though.

“Only if you get a babysitter for her too,” he sighed.

Tara fist pumped and turned Reese’s conversation towards the pumpkin that she was going to pick out for her Jack – o – Lantern.

Theo must have fallen asleep when he sat down on his bed to think about what he was going to wear to this stupid haunted house. The doorbell rang, jerking him awake, and he could hear Reese racing towards the door, shrieking Jordan’s name.

Tara knocked on his doorframe. “Oh my god!” she complained, “I thought you were getting changed!”

“Fell asleep,” he yawned, running a hand through his hair as he sat up. He had gotten his scrub top off before he collapsed and hey, that was progress. Now he just had to find a different shirt.

Tara huffed and pulled open the door to his closet, rustling through his admittedly pathetic selection of clothes.

“Hi, Theo – oh! Sorry!” Jordan looked away quickly from where Reese had dragged her to his bedroom door. Even with her head turned away, Theo could see the blush.

“Hey, Jordan,” he said, ignoring the awkwardness of gaping teenagers. He put up with it enough from Tara’s friends to be used to it by now. “Thanks for doing this so last minute. Reese, I’ll be out in a minute, okay?”

“Okay,” Reese said dejectedly until Jordan managed to distract her again.

“Why don’t you own anything without holes in it?” Tara demanded, holding up an old red henley.

“Tara, it doesn’t matter. They’re your friends, not mine. Now leave so I can change,” he took the shirt from her, literally pushing her outside of his room as she yelled at him about putting on more deodorant.

A few years ago, Theo would never have imagined that his Friday night would consist of driving a carful of teenage girls to a shitty haunted house in the town he grew up in. Sadly, this was about as much of a social life as he ever got these days.

“Theo, you’re coming in with us, right?” one of Tara’s friends, Emily, batted her eyelashes at him. He refrained from rolling his eyes, but looked at Tara.

“Yes, he is,” Tara answered for him, shamelessly exploiting her friends’ crushes on him for increased popularity. He was so proud.

“Fine,” he agreed.

The girls cheered and then started giggling and whispering. Theo pulled his thin jacket closer around him and took out his phone, scrolling through messages from a group chat at work that he had missed. Mostly it was just about Grey’s Anatomy. Why his friends wanted to spend their time away from the hospital watching a hospital drama, he would never understand.

A few minutes later, they were only halfway to the ticket booth and Theo had run out of ways to distract himself on his phone. He looked around at the other people in line, shoving his fists into his jacket pocket as the cold autumn wind rustled through the fallen leaves. His eyes caught on a blond guy, probably close to his own age and height, standing comfortably with friends his own age, laughing at something one of the guys around him had said. Damn, he was pretty. If Theo wasn’t in charge of chaperoning a group of teenage girls…but that was just his life, wasn’t it?

The line moved up, and the blond guy moved just out of sight.

The haunted house, when they finally got inside, was just what he had expected. Too expensive for the bad effects and nothing but jump scares. Theo was not impressed, but Tara and her friends seemed to be having the time of their lives, so he really couldn’t be all that mad about it.

Theo wound his way, unimpressed, behind Tara and her friends as they screamed at every little thing and clung to each other.

A yelp from up ahead of them struck through the rest of the screams. It was the sort of sound that Theo recognized on an instinctual level – one that sent him racing through the last few yards of the house and out onto the lawn, where yellow lamplight spilled onto dark grass and people milled around, talking, laughing, and maybe shaking a little.

“I’m ok, I promise,” a voice was panting, and Theo pushed his way over.

“You’re literally gushing blood, Liam.” It was one of the guys that Theo had seen in line earlier. He was standing with the hot blonde guy, who was clutching a flannel shirt to his head.

“It’s just a cut, Mase. I think it’s – “ he swayed a little.

“Hi, excuse me,” Theo glanced over his shoulder to see Tara and her friends just behind him, looking worried and a little squeamish. “I’m Theo and I’m First Aid/CPR Certified. Can I take a look?” He gestured at the guy’s head.

The guy stared at him for a minute before nodding. He gingerly removed the shirt from his forehead, which was messy with drying blood. One of Tara’s friend’s squealed behind him. He rolled his eyes, turning on the flashlight on his phone and shielding the guy’s eyes with his other hand as he inspected the wound. “Why happened?” He asked, in his most casual, bedside-manner-voice.

“Um…” the guy shifted a little, which was fine. Theo couldn’t see it too well without cleaning it up.

“He ran into the door on our way out of the haunted house,” the guy’s friend explained for him.

“Was there a nail or something, or were you really trying to crack your head open?” Theo asked dryly.

“There might have been a nail, I’m not really sure,” the guy admitted.

Theo sighed. He would definitely need to get a closer look. Tara always made fun of him for not being able to not help someone, no matter how small the problem. She might be right. “Look, it might be creepy in a dark parking lot, but I have a first aid kit in my car…”

“It’s fine,” the guy said, “Mason will go check out the door and then come find us, right Mase?”

The guy called Mason rolled his eyes. “Sure. Don’t die.”

The guy shrugged at Theo, who gave Mason vague instructions on how to get to his car and then led the guy and a gaggle of teenage girls back to his truck. The girls seemed to have lost interest, and sat in the car gossiping while Theo cleaned the blood off of the guy’s head and looked at it one more time.

“I think it’s ok,” he said, finally, “Not too deep, just showy. You might want to get a tetnis shot if you don’t have it already, though.”

“I do,” the guy nodded, “Sorry, I’m just spectacularly clumsy. Really, I appreciate the help, but it probably wasn’t all that necessary.”

“I’m a nurse,” Theo assured him, packing up the first aid kit again, “It’s my job.”

“Ah,” he nodded, “In that case, thank you Nurse Theo.”

Theo grinned at him. He considered offering his phone number in case the guy had any questions or for a less innocent reason, but the guy’s friend appeared out of the gloom, and the short moment of normalcy slipped away. A peal of laughter from the truck was a jarring reminder of his duties.

“Well, I guess I should let you get everyone home,” the guy said.

Theo nodded.

“Here,” the guy shoved an empty hand towards Theo, who stared at him, bewildered. “Um…can I give you my number, in case you think of something else I should know about running into doors?”

Theo cracked a smiled and handed him his phone. The guy typed quickly and then handed it back. “I’m Liam. I mean, that’s me. But you know that,” he looked down, blushing, “Bye.”

He even made it a few yards before Theo called, “Bye Liam!”

He missed the brilliant smile as he turned and climbed into a car full of girls, who had something newly fascinating to gossip about now. He turned over the engine.

Reese was already asleep by the time they got home. Theo thanked and paid Jordan and then went to check on Tara.

“Have fun?” He asked, leaning in the doorway to her room.

She smiled at him from where she was packing her books back into her school bag. “Yeah! It was so fun! I think my friend might even stop being weird about their crushes on you! Are you going to call that guy?”

Theo thought about the number stored away in his phone. “Maybe,” he shrugged dismissively.

As usual, Tara saw right through him. “Why not?” she frowned.

“I don’t know, Tara,” he sighed, suddenly feeling bone-tired, “I don’t have time to date.”

“Is it because of me and Reese?” she asked.

Theo shrugged, knowing better than to lie to her. She may be failing Geometry, but in some ways, Tara was too smart for her own good. “I’m too busy. And what guy my age is ready to be with someone who has a family to take care of? You know how immature guys are.”

“Not you,” she smiled ruefully.

“We all had to grow up fast,” he agreed.

Tara sighed heavily. “I wish I could help you. I feel so bad that you have to take care of us when you should be having fun and getting laid.”

“Tara!” Theo gaped at her.

“What? Rosie said it! I mean her sister said it, but – “

Theo facepalmed. “Please don’t let anyone important hear you say things like that,” he groaned. He wasn’t sure if it was mortifying or hilariously funny to hear his fifteen-year-old sister tell him he needed to get laid. Maybe both.

“Obviously,” she rolled her eyes.

“And by the way, you help me plenty, so don’t feel too bad. Dating’s overrated anyways.”

Tara scrunched her nose. “Only single people say that.”

Theo chucked the nearest stuffed animal at her head. “Go to sleep,” he told her, easily dodging the retaliation.


	2. Pumpkin Carving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all I have for now. If you have any suggestions of fall things I can have them do in this fic, please feel free to comment. Or anything else you think you want to see happen. No guarantees, but your inspiration might help keep this fic going.  
> Enjoy :)

Theo barely had time to stop McDonalds for a cup of coffee before driving straight from the night shift to the school. He was absolutely exhausted, but it was pumpkin carving day, and Reese had been able to talk about nothing else for months. He still hadn’t even messaged the guy from the haunted house. Tracy had spent almost their whole shift together trying to convince him, but it was no good. Theo already knew it would never happen. He pulled into the parking lot just in time to help the traveling Spanish teacher unload her things from the back of the car.

“No es necesario, Teodoro,” she told him, as he carried the heavier bags after her into the school.

“Me enseñó mucho. Let me help you,” he said.

Theo didn’t get the change to come back to his old elementary school very often, even though Reese had been coming here for over a month now. Still, some of the secretaries at the front desk remembered him, and the hallway to the kindergarten classrooms looked familiar. Theo downed some of his coffee and looked at his watch while he walked. Shit. He was already two minutes late.

Theo peeked in through the small window in the door of the classroom. All of the parents were already sitting in tiny chairs next to their children, listening attentively to the teacher, who was out of sight, presumably at the front of the room. They all had pumpkins in front of them. Shit, shit, shit! Theo had really blown it this time. Reese had been so excited. And Theo forgot the fucking pumpkin. It was too late to go back. The coffee in his hand felt like a betrayal. He should have stopped at the grocery store to get a pumpkin instead. Reese had seen him and was waving excitedly from where Theo was proud to see she was still sitting nicely in her chair. He gave more of a grimace than a smile and waved back half-heartedly.

The door opened suddenly, and Theo found himself face-to-face with…the guy from the haunted house? This time, though, he wasn’t bleeding. Instead, he was wearing a blue button-down shirt covered by an apron, and a very confused expression.

“Um…are you lost?” he asked.

It took a minute before Theo could answer. He cleared his throat. “Um, Reese…”

“Theo!” Reese had finally lost her patience and flung herself out of her seat and across the room to hug Theo’s legs.

“Hey, Reese,” he glanced down at her. “Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s ok,” Reese said politely. “Mr. Dunbar, this is my Theo!”

Mr. Dunbar looked like he couldn’t help but smile at her. Theo understood that feeling perfectly. “I can see that, Reese,” he said, and then raised his eyes to meet Theo’s. “I’m sorry if that was rude. Um, I’m Liam Dunbar, Reese’s teacher.”

“Theo Raeken. Reese’s guardian.”

“Welcome Theo,” Mr. Dunbar smiled, shaking his hand. “Um…come in, sorry, I was just going over the instructions…”

Reese took his hand to pull him towards her chair, but Theo stopped suddenly, feeling his face flush with embarrassment. “Actually,” he confessed, “I don’t have a pumpkin for Reese.” It was almost a whisper. He didn’t want the other parents to hear and know how incompetent he was. He didn’t want Reese to overhear and be disappointed, even if she would find out in a few minutes anyways.

“Oh, that’s no problem!” Mr. Dunbar assured him, brightly, “I have extras just in case. She can have one of them. There are a few others who don’t have them too.” He smiled at Theo reassuringly.

Theo had no idea how he managed to be so composed. Maybe he hadn’t been all that into Theo anyways, but Theo was still reeling. He drank from his coffee cup again before sitting down in a tiny seat at a round table between Reese and another girl’s mom.

After he finished explaining the craft, Liam invited the kids who forgot their pumpkins to come and choose one out of a pile he had next to the bookshelf. Reese chose one that was bigger than her own head, and Theo laughed as he filmed her carrying it over on his phone. The mom next to him gave him a look that made him feel like he should have helped her carry it instead.

“Wow, Reese! You’re so strong!” Mr. Dunbar exclaimed, making Reese giggle.

“My Theo is strong too!” she said proudly. “He can do a hundred push-ups even when I sit on him!”

Theo’s eyes widened. “That’s a huge exaggeration,” he said quickly, helping Reese to lift the pumpkin onto the table.

“Is it?” Mr. Dunbar asked with a twinkle in his eye. He didn’t linger, but Theo felt the attitudes changing around him.

“Okay,” he said, draining the rest of his coffee, “What kind of pumpkin are we making, Reese?”

“Pete the Cat wearing a witch hat!” Reese bounced a little in her seat.

Theo just barely managed to keep himself from saying, “Who the fuck is Pete the Cat?”, which was fortunate, as Reese pulled a picture out to show him.

“Look! Mr. Dunbar drew a picture! Can we make it like this?” she bounced again.

“We can try,” Theo assured her.

Mr. Dunbar had already cut the top of the pumpkin open, so Theo lifted it off and helped Reese to pull the guts out of the pumpkin. It was messy and hard work, but also strangely fun. Theo was sure he had done it as a kid, but now it seemed so long ago. They put the pumpkin guts into a plastic bag, and Theo cut out the remaining stragglers that were still stuck to the inside of the pumpkin. Together, they taped Mr. Dunbar’s picture to the side of the pumpkin, and Theo helped Reese to safely cut the design into the pumpkin. And by “helped”, he supported Reese’s hands in cutting into the pumpkin for about five minutes, did it by himself while she watched for another five minutes, and then did the rest himself when she ran off to play with her friends.

“I’m Maddie’s mom, by the way,” the mom next to him said, “Moira.”

“Theo,” he said politely, if a little confused. He didn’t think that most of the parents here would actually want to talk to him.

“You seem really young,” she said, still expertly carving away at her daughter’s pumpkin. “No offense.”

“Yeah, no, Reese is my youngest sister actually. I take care of her,” he replied, used to the awkward conversation.

“I’m sorry,” her mouth twisted as she looked sideways at him. “For whatever happened to put you in that situation. Are you a nurse?”

“Yeah,” he rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand and kept carving. “Just got off a double. Sorry, you don’t need to know that.”

“I’m a chef. But wow. You must be just – “ she looked at him with an expression that he rarely got. One that looked like she could appreciate everything he was going through.

“Exhausted?” he laughed, “A bit, but I want Reese to have someone here.”

“I know it’s not really the same, but my sister gave birth when she was probably about your age. There’s no preparing for it, even if you feel prepared,” she said.

“Yeah,” he sighed, “I definitely wasn’t prepared.” The conversation felt a little heavy, and he was to tired to keep up, so he added. “I’m happy to do it though.”

Moira hummed and changed the topic to idle chatter that the other parents around them eventually joined in on. But again, Theo felt that attitudes towards him had changed. It had felt almost hostile at first, although that could easily have been Theo’s nerves, but now it seemed like every little thing that Theo needed, someone was already there to help. When he knocked the top of the pumpkin off the edge of the table with his elbow, a dad was picking it up for him before he even noticed. When he finished carving, Moira took his carving tools to the sink to wash along with her own. Theo stared after her in wonder.

Mr. Dunbar had his class-well trained. While the parents were cleaning up the dangerous things, he instructed them to clean up their toys and wipe down the tables. Theo, used to cleaning up seemingly after everyone at home, was amazed to see how quickly the classroom went from trashed to spotless.

“Oh my god,” he breathed in wonder.

“It’s like having an army,” Mr. Dunbar said next to him, grinning. “When they actually listen to me, that is.” It was almost hard to imagine the classroom in chaos with Mr. Dunbar shouting over the loud voices of a dozen five-year-olds. But Theo knew better from his own experiences. “Nice pumpkin, by the way.”

“Fuck you for making me carve that,” he said wearily, before immediately covering his mouth and looking around to see if anyone had heard him swear. “I’m so sorry.”

But Mr. Dunbar was already laughing hysterically. “No, no, it’s good. Just don’t let the kids hear you say it. I already have to field enough from Reese.”

Theo grimaced. “Does she say…bad things?”

“No, no. I can just tell, like you don’t lie to her. She asked me the other day if I would marry you, you know? I think she’s trying to set us up.”

Theo sighed. “I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t be so open with her. I can’t help it though. I don’t know how parents always just bull – I mean…you know. Explain things differently. But, um…she said the same thing to me too. Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about,” he grinned, “It’s a breath of fresh air. Keeps me creative. You should relax, though. We’re just about to have a snack and then story time. Hard work’s over.”

“You two look like you should be hanging out on a college campus somewhere, not taking care of kids. You need to stop, you’re making me feel old,” Moira sighed in mock frustration.

Mr. Dunbar grinned. “Sorry Ms. Price. But it’s not like you’re all that much older.”

Moira rolled her eyes and went to fill a plate for her daughter from the mini buffet that had been set up.

Mr. Dunbar winked at him. “Seriously. Settle in.”

Theo thought, about an hour later, he had probably taken that advice a little too far. It was just that Mr. Dunbar’s voice was so soothing, and Theo had eaten his fill of snacks, and Reese was so warm on his lap, and he was just so tired. He hoped he hadn’t snored. It was the next thing he knew, and Reese was pushing his shoulder, telling him to wake up.

“Hmm?” he stretched and blinked, looking around. He was still in Reese’s classroom, and all of the kids were getting packed up to go home. “What happened?”

“You fell asleep, silly,” Reese admonished. “It’s home time. You missed all of Mr. Dunbar’s stories, but he said we shouldn’t wake you up.” For probably the millionth time that day, Theo felt embarrassed. Probably none of the other parents had fallen asleep.

“It’s okay,” Mr Dunbar said, “You obviously needed it.”

“I’m sorry,” he said again.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. We’ve all been there.”

The bell rang as Theo rubbed the back of his neck. “Um…thank you for everything, Mr. Dunbar.” He held out his hand to shake.

“Dude, please call me Liam. Maybe it’s unprofessional, but we’ve got to be like the same age, and that’s just weird.”

Theo smiled as he held in a yawn. “Yeah, for sure. Thanks, Liam.”

“Any time. Hey Reese, go home and make sure that Theo takes a nap, okay?”

Reese nodded dutifully, and marched towards the door, pulling Theo along behind her as she called goodbye to a smiling Mr. Dunbar.


	3. Camping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There might be a part two of the camping trip, but I'm not sure yet. Still trying to find fall inspiration...

Theo inhaled deeply. The air smelled so fresh, unlike the sickly hospital smell or even the smell of dinner being cooked frantically. It smelled like crisp leaves and fresh water. Twigs and leaves crunched under their feet as they walked, and Theo was content to hear the silly babbling of his sisters.

“Here!” Tara called.

It was his first full weekend off in a long time, and they had all agreed to go camping. No friends, no homework, no working overtime. Just the Raekens and a text in the woods.

“This one?” he asked. The campsite wasn’t full. The nights were getting too cold for that now, but there were still a decent amount of tents and campers occupying the lots.

“Yes!” Reese jumped up and down, nearly dropping the bag of food that she had been tasked with carrying.

“Careful Reese’s! You want to eat s’mores, don’t you?” he called.

“S’mores! S’mores! S’mores!” she bounced some more, being more careful of the bag this time.

Theo dropped the tent far enough from the fire pit and looked around. The trees were dense behind them – they were just at the edge of the campsite – but around them a few trees formed weak barriers between campsites. Two large tents had been set up across from them, and a guy who Theo might have seen at the hospital once or something was setting up lunch on the picnic table. That happened a lot. It was a small town, and Theo had seen most people at the hospital by this point, he figured. It was impossible to remember all of them.

“Theo! Where’s the tarp?” Tara yelled.

He turned back to the tent, which he still needed to set up. “It should be in there somewhere,” he said. “Oh, wait – there!”

They worked together to unbundle the tent parts while Reese explored the campsite. It was always a pain in the ass trying to get the tent set up, especially before dark, but he and Tara had gotten pretty good at it. This was about as much of a vacation as they were able to have these days. Even driving hours to the beach only happened every other year – sometimes once a year if they were lucky. But it was worth it. This was his real sibling bonding time. He felt less in charge here, somehow, like he could sort of be a kid with them for a weekend.

“Hey, Reese’s Pieces – “ he looked over his shoulder once the tent had been successfully constructed. “Reese?” He turned fully and looked around. The bag of food was on the picnic table, but Reese was nowhere to be seen. “Shit. Tara, where did Reese go?”

“I don’t – wait, is that her?” Tara pointed across the street at the campsite Theo had been looking at earlier.

“What is she – Reese!” He crossed the dirt road, Tara right behind him.

Reese was sitting at the end of the bench at the picnic table, swinging her legs and eating a sandwich. Theo stared at her. Reese _never_ ran off like that.

“Theo! Mr. Dunbar’s here!” Theo looked around at the other people at the table and finally registered Liam’s face. The guy next to him, Theo now remembered, had been at the haunted house, not the hospital.

“Theo! Hi!” Liam said, “I’m sorry. Reese came over as soon as she saw me and you looked busy with the tent. I hope you weren’t too worried.”

“I…no. What are you doing here?” Theo stammered, ignoring a snort from behind him. Almost certainly Tara making fun of him.

“Um…camping?” Liam looked around. “Oh, these are my friends. You met Mason before. This is his boyfriend, Corey. And this is our friend Hayden.”

Everyone waved with friendly smiles.

Theo cleared his throat. “Um…yeah. Hi. Theo. Hey, Reese? Maybe we should give Mr. Dunbar a break, huh? He only sees you every day.”

Reese pouted at him and held up her sandwich.

“I don’t mind, really,” Liam said. “Hey, do you want to eat with us? We brought way more than we could actually eat.”

Theo’s stomach grumbled uncooperatively. “I don’t want to intrude –“

“Not at all, dude! Reese here is the life of the party!” Mason said, leaning around to look at Tara. “What’s your name?”

“Tara,” she said, already slipping onto the bench next to Reese.

“Welcome to the party, Tara,” Hayden grinned, “Man, it’s great to finally meet you, Theo!”

“Finally?” he asked, confused.

Hayden winced like she had just accidentally banged her leg against the table. Liam, who was sitting next to him, was invested in preparing his sandwich.

“Anyways,” Corey said, rolling his eyes, “What brings you guys camping late in the season?”

“Tight schedule,” Theo shrugged, “I’m a nurse and these two have school, not to mention homework.”

Nobody asked where their parents were. They probably already knew.

“Nice to get time off,” Mason nodded, “We came for the weekend discount.”

“That too,” Theo snorted.

“Hey, I get it’s a family thing,” Corey said, “But if you’re looking for people to roast marshmallows and sing campfire songs with, you’re always welcome over here.”

“We would love to hang out with you guys this weekend!” Tara said enthusiastically. Theo eyed her with apprehension. He had a feeling this was going to be one of those weird random things that she did every so often when she unfoundedly felt bad that she couldn’t help Theo more. It was always well-meaning , but it tended to be strange in execution.

Tara smiled at him.

“That’s great!” Liam smiled back.

Theo mostly forgot the feeling of foreboding as lunch gave way to a short hike to the lake. Theo watched Tara swim out to the dock with Mason, Corey, and Hayden while Liam and Reese played with the fish in the shallow water next to him.

Reese screamed in laughter, splashing her feet as the minnows swam away. Theo turned to look at her with a soft smile and caught Liam’s eye.

“You don’t get much of a break, do you?” he asked.

Theo shrugged. “I’m happy to do it,” he said. And really he was.

“I can tell,” Liam smiled. “But I think they want you to have a break too. Especially Tara.”

Theo snorted. “Yeah, she gets a little pushy about it sometimes.”

“Not a bad thing,” Theo shrugged, as Reese carefully and far too slowly tried to catch the darting fish. “What about you? It can’t be easy being a teacher.”

Liam shrugged too. “Yeah, but I love kids and it’s hella rewarding. Then again, I’m sure nursing is too.”

“Not nearly as cute though,” Theo snorted.

“Oh I don’t know,” Liam glanced at him with a playful smile. “I bet you bring the cute…or something.” If there was an eyebrow waggle, Theo missed it, distracted by Reese’s triumphant arm thrusting a tiny fish into the sky.

“Reese! Fish have to be in water! You have to let it go!” he said, a little bit shocked, even as the heat of a blush crept across his face.

Reese, looking disappointed, but clearly remembering this important information about fish, gently released the minnow back into the lake.

Liam didn’t press any farther. Theo might have imagined it, but then, he supposed, he was an adult. It wasn’t exactly a secret what Liam thought of him. It was just…he wasn’t sure what to do about it. He liked Liam too. Maybe even a lot. But he wasn’t sure if he could actually handle _liking_ somebody at the moment. Tara’s voice in the back of his head reminded him that he still would have to get Reese through college if he was going to wait to not have dependents before he dated, but just…it was hard to think about any of it. And Theo, like most other humans, would rather not thinks about things that were unnecessarily complicated.

They dried off from the lake around the campfire that Mason and Hayden had started, and Liam, Tara, and Reese went off in search of marshmallow roasting sticks. Theo could see them weaving in and out of the trees a few yards away.

“Hey,” Corey said, sitting next to him, “Just so you know, Tara’s basically cross-examining Mason and I about being gay. I’m not saying I know why, but I just thought I would give you a heads up. Also she says it’s not bad if we swear in front of her because you do it all the time.”

Theo resisted the urge to smack his own head. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry. Tara’s pushy, but usually she’s not that insensitive.”

“No, I mean it’s fine. I don’t mind her asking, but I just thought maybe you could use a heads up if you’re going to have to field that one in the future,” he said easily.

“Yeah, thanks. She just likes to know things,” he shook his head.

Corey nodded. “What about you?”

Theo bit his lip. “I like guys, but I haven’t dated since…college, I guess. She probably figures there’s not much she’ll get out of me. Actually,” he confessed, “I’m worried she’s trying to meddle in my love life again.”

“Liam?” Corey guessed.

“Dude.”

“Yeah. Take your time with it. I don’t think he’s going anywhere fast,” he said. They both looked towards the woods to see Liam and Tara walking back to the campsite, Tara wielding a number of sticks like swords, Liam with Reese perched happily on his shoulders.


End file.
